Architectural Digest: August 2022
Original Article | Written by Sara James Mnookin | Photography: Read McKendree
Tour the Expansive Westchester County Property of Two New York City Transplants
Michelle and Alex Bea moved to the same suburban New York town—in Westchester County—twice before it felt like home.
“When we first arrived in Rye in 2009, we had a six-month-old and four pieces of furniture,” Michelle says. “We rented a big house, which remained mostly empty.”
They only lasted a year. Lured back to Manhattan by second thoughts—and a West Village townhouse—they spent another decade in the city, while still dreaming of more light and space for their growing family.
Cut to 2018. With three kids underfoot, the couple decided to try Rye again.
“Michelle always knew this would be the next step,” Stephanie Woodmansee, owner of Henry & Co. Design, says of her client. “She understood that when they finally made this transition, they would need a house that would really work for them, where they could host family and friends and entertain in every room.”
The Beas struggled to find an existing home to fit their needs, so they purchased a parcel of land and hired Douglas VanderHorn of VanderHorn Architects to design a ground-up new build that could plausibly blend with its surroundings, in a town settled in 1660. Significant Homes, based in New Canaan, Connecticut, handled construction, while Woodmansee created vivid, layered interiors that, like the brand-new Colonial Revival dwelling itself, look as if they’ve unfurled over decades rather than mere months.
“We came up with this fun rule that every room had to have an antique or something Michelle loved and couldn’t live without,” Woodmansee says. “When we found the hutch in the kitchen, it was old and falling apart, but Michelle didn’t care. If it has the personality and warms up the space, it’s a lock.”
Working with a traditional architect and contractor grounded the project, allowing Woodmansee and her clients to take more adventurous risks throughout the Westchester County house.
“I definitely pushed the team a bit,” Woodmansee says. “I redrew the built-ins in Michelle’s office to have more of that Turkish detail…. I added brass legs to the kitchen island…all to bring in a little more of Michelle’s personality. She’s very artistic in the way she dresses and pulls things together. There is an elegance to her that had to be translated into interiors.”
Woodmansee is quick to add, “When you’re in the house, it doesn’t read as formal as the pictures”—proof she nailed the clients’ initial goal for the space, which was to create a polished home that would work well for large gatherings, yet still feel intimate.
Architect VanderHorn appreciated Woodmansee’s unconventional design approach. “Stephanie mixes colors and patterns in a way that surprises, yet it’s really delightful,” he says. “The result feels like a home, not a showroom—which isn’t easy when you do an entire house at once.”
From a secret powder room with a bright pink Gucci wallpaper to the deep green kitchen, visitors encounter unexpected hues at every turn. “It’s refreshing to have a client who loves color,” Woodmansee says. “Michelle wasn’t scared of it and really trusted me to guide her and make these pretty bold jewel tones work.”
The Beas credit their vibrant home’s cohesiveness to hiring Woodmansee early in the process. “We had been told that a common mistake with a new build is to bring in a designer too late,” Michelle says. “In terms of involving the decorator, ‘Early is on time.’”
Looping in another voice and opinion did mean more work at the outset, but rather a much smoother construction schedule—and far fewer delays overall. “We had a vision for what we wanted our life to look like long-term, the backyard for the kids to play and the small-town Friday night football games. We just arrived a little too early,” Michelle says of their first attempt at relocating. “We are very happy to be back now, this time with more kids—and more furniture.”